Lamp socket



L. ERI'KSON May s, 1934.

LAMP SOCKET Filed NOV. 23, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l L ERIKSON LAMP SOCKET May 8, -l934 Filed Nov. 25, 1952 2 sheets-sheet 2 l #ENTER ffm/iwf# ATTDHNEQD Patented May 8, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to lamp sockets and more specially to such sockets for holding lamps mounted in horizontal position with their aXes parallel to the wiring channel, as in the case of continuous-reiiector lighting.

In continuous reflectors used in cove lighting and the like where non-cylindrical lamps of various diameters are employed, spacing devices of different heights are required to hold the lamp away from the wiring channel, such devices comprising brackets secured to the outer surface of the channel, usually at right-angles thereto, and provided with means for attaching the socket to the same with its axis perpendicular to the plane thereof. Spacers of the type now in use are undesirable because their use renders necessary the connection of the socket terminals to the conductors in the channel by pigtails spliced to said conductors, thereby increasing re hazard, and also because they do not aord i'lrm and immovable supports for the sockets.

The object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a socket for non-cylindrical lamps mounted horizontally with their axes parallel to 2 the wiring channel whereby such lamps will be held away from the channel without the use of a spacer, and whereby the defects and limitations above recited are overcome.

To this end my invention involves a socket of insulating material provided with an integral rectangular extension of suiilcient length to hold the lamp away from the channel, the upper surface of such extension being provided with recesses for receiving the conductors of the lighting circuit and said recesses registering, respectively, with apertures, in which are disposed connectors electrically connected at their inner ends to the lamp-terminal engaging-members housed in the cylindrical chamber of the socket and'provided at their outer ends with conductor-attaching means.

An illustrative embodiment of my invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is an under plan view of my improved -5 socket showing the application thereof to a reector;

Fig. 2 is an end view of said socket, the wiring channel being shown in section;

Figs. 3 and 4 are longitudinal sections taken, respectively, on the lines 3-3 and 4`4 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the socket as seen from the inner face of the channel, the coverplate for the recesses in the outer face of the rectangular .extension being removed;

Fig. 6 is a plan view similar to Fig. 5, with said coverplate in position;

Fig. 7 is a transverse section taken on the line 7 7 of Fig. 5;

In the particular drawings selected for more fully disclosing the principle of my invention, l0 is a lamp socket made of any suitable insulating material such as porcelain or bakelite and comprising the usual cylindrical lamp-receiving chamber ll wherein are housed the lamp-terminal engaging-members, viz, the threaded metallic shell 12 and the spring clip 13 which engage, respectively, the cylindrical surface of the lamp plug and the central terminal thereof.

Integral with the cylindrical portion of the 7.0' socket is a rectangular extension 14 of suitable height for holding the chambered portion of said socket away from the channel, said extension having an overhang 14. The upper surface of said extension is provided with two parallel longitudi- 753 nally-extending conductor-receiving recesses 15,

16, which register, respectively, with the apertures 17, 18, in which are placed the connectors 19, 20, each said connector being shown in the present instance as terminating in a transverse portion 21, 22, disposed in one of the longitudinal recesses and provided with conductor-attaching means, such as the screws 23, 24, respectively,

Means are provided for connecting said connectors electrically and mechanically to the 85. lamp-terminal engaging-members, and in the present instance the spring-clip 13 is so connected to the connector 21 by the screw 25, and the threaded tube 12 to the connector 22 by the screw 26. 90.'

In the present instance, in which the socket is shown applied to a wiring channel 27 secured vto the reflector indicated at 28, a portion of the upper surface of the extension 14 is arranged to project through an opening in said channel, the 95. socket being secured thereto in any suitable manner, as by the screws 29, 29. The conductors of the lighting system indicated at 30 are housed in the space between the channel 27 and the reflector, and pass through the longitudinal recesses 15, 16, in the upper surface of said eXtension 14, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. A portion of the insulation is removed from the conductors and the wire thus bared is connected electrically to the connectors by the screws 23, 24, thereby 10.5 avoiding the use of pigtails spliced to said conductors. The recessed portion of the upper surface of the rectangular extension of the socket intermediate the ends and sides thereof is provided with side walls 14EL and end walls 14lo which 110 form a compartment enclosing the recesses 15, 16, separated by the central partition 31 (Fig. 5) which rises slightly above said end walls (Fig. 3) and terminates slightly below the side walls (Fig. '7). This compartment is closed by the plate of insulating material 33 secured in the present instance to the top of the partition 31 by the screw 34 which takes into the threaded hole 35 therein.

The said side walls rising from a point slightly inward of the sides of the rectangular extension 14, shoulders 14'3 are thereby formed in said sides near upper ends thereof; and said end walls 14b being disposed inwardly of the ends of said eX- tension, flanges 14d are thereby formed in said ends. The compartment formed by said side and end walls projects through aperture in the channel.

The side walls 141L closely t said aperture and the channel abuts the shouldered portions 14c and the flanged portions 14d of the extension 14, whereby any movement of the socket with respect to the channel is eifectively prevented when the socket is secured in position by the screws 29, 29.

The circuit conductors 30, as indicated in Figs. 3 and 4 pass through the spaces 14e between the upper ends of the end walls 14D and the coverplate 33 and thence into the recesses 15, 16, which are inclined downwardly toward the apertures 17, 18, the bottoms thereof being below the plane of the inner face of the wiring channel. By this arrangement a shallower channel can be used than would be possible if the transverse portions 2l, 22, of the connectors and the binding-post screws 23, 24, were in or above the plane of the upper surface of the channel. The housing of the exposed terminal parts in the wall-enclosed recesses 15, 16, eliminates all danger of shortcircuiting between the said terminal parts and between the latter and the channel.

Having thus described an illustrative embodiment of my invention without however limiting the same thereto, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A lamp socket of insulating material comprising a lamp-receiving chamber having a rectangular extension integral therewith and disposed above the same for holding the chambered portions of said socket away from its support, lampterminal engaging-members disposed in said chamber, the upper surface of said extension being provided with two parallel, longitudinallyextending conductor-receiving recesses communicating, respectively, with apertures terminating near the rear wall of said chamber, connectors disposed partly in said apertures and partly in said recesses said connectors each being formed of a vertical portion disposed in one of said apertures and an upper horizontal portion disposed in one of said recesses, means electrically and mechanically connecting the lower end of each said vertical portion with one of said lampterminal engaging members, and binding-post means secured to said horizontal portion of each of said connectors, said binding-post means being disposed below the plane of the upper surface of said rectangular extension.

LEONARD ERIKSON. 

